Blair Nell

Late one night several years ago, Blair Nell was looking over the shoulder of her husband, Clayton, at a real estate listing that wasn’t quite working. He wanted her advice, so she offered some thoughts about language and how the home might have been staged better. And that’s the moment she realized that she could do this, too, that she could sell homes and welcome and connect people to the community she already loved. After growing up at the edge of North Carolina’s Sandhills, Blair attended UNC-Chapel Hill and became a social worker, a job that allowed her to fulfill two passions at once—establishing relationships and assisting people. Those principles, she understands now, are at the heart of real estate with integrity. “I understood I could genuinely help people,” she remembers. “I knew how to sit down and really listen to what people need—and help them find it.”

Though her partners praise her ability to stage homes and manage a million details at once, relationships remain the most important part of her approach to real estate. Clients from her incredibly successful five-year run at a small Carrboro firm are now some of her very best friends, and as much as she likes to see the paperwork signed, she likes seeing new homeowners become parts of their community that much more. A mother of two and a fan of the Triangle’s rich culinary scene, she recommends restaurants and breweries, discusses the pros and cons of area schools, and generally hopes to give people a chance to lead their best local lives.

Reviews

We were first-time home buyers who were reluctantly hitting the real estate market after getting booted out of our rental in Durham. Even before we “committed,” Blair spoke with us for almost an hour on the process and procedure of how to even go about buying a house, and made me feel like it was not only possible, but totally fun. We had busy schedules, but she made everything happen, from viewings to inspections, to negotiations, to the closing. She was knowledgeable, gently drawing our attention to “red flags” that we might otherwise miss. She was responsive, and never once dropped the ball on communication with us or our seller. She expertly soothed a few anxious calls, and was there to celebrate when we closed. Her approach is personable, professional and totally tuned in to her client’s needs. Would highly recommend.

- Emily

Blair was exactly what I needed in an agent from very first hello to closing! Moving from Asheville to the Chapel Hill area isn’t the greatest of distances but it was enough that having someone local to trust would be essential. While selling my house in Asheville I had some negative experiences with agents that felt like pushy sales so it was very important to me during my search that I find someone genuine to trust. I scoured agent bios and read SO many over several days before selecting Blair. Right away she was great at just upfront communication and understood what I was seeking. I will be highly recommending her in my new town whenever I can work it into any conversation.

- Eloise

Blair was a terrific agent for us as we were selling our condo in Chapel Hill. She guided us through the process from listing to final sale and we were impressed with her knowledge of the market, experience in the entire process, and appreciated her general positive/kind demeanor. We were selling our condo while living in a different state and Blair went above and beyond our expectations by helping us find and set up appointments with local contractors – she even met them at our condo and provided us immediate feedback/guidance. She was always responsive/available to us and we would highly recommend her!

- Rachael and Dan in Boston

I have really enjoyed working with Blair. She helped my partner by some land about a year ago, and I called her up when I was ready to buy my own home. The market is competitive this season – and though several of my (above asking price) offers were not accepted – Blair was steadfast in letting me know when homes that fit my interests came to the market. Finally, the perfect home for me came on the market in a neighborhood I had been mentioning since I started my search. She showed the house to me the first day it was listed, and my offer was accepted within two days. The seller wanted a fast closing. We closed in under 1 month. Blair was able to help me pull it together that quickly because of the great working relationships she has with her colleagues (I went with her recommendations on lawyer, lender, inspector, etc. they were all superb). Needless to say, I’ll be recommending Blair to my friends and family.

- Lisa

Blair was great! We never would have even found our current house if she didn’t stay on top of the listings and suggest it to us before we saw it show up online. Her knowledge of the area (we saw a lot of houses together) made all the difference. And we were even able to get the house for under asking price in a spring market where the majority of prices were inflated. We couldn’t have asked for a better realtor!

- Danny and Lindsey

Blair is the absolute best- she is a fantastic realtor and great person in general. She is so hard working, incredibly responsive and communicative. She leaves no stone unturned through the home buying process and is a great advocate to have in your court. Blair is incredibly knowledgeable of the market AND a bonus is that her husband is also a realtor, and together they are a great team. You will not be disappointed by hiring Blair as your realtor. She helped me to find the perfect home, navigate starting a business on the property, and was incredibly supportive through a difficult personal situation. In short, she’s incredible!

- Ginny

My partner and I worked with Blair Nell (with some occasional help from Clayton Nell) on finding our new home in a beautiful wooded area of Pittsboro. We had a lot of hard requirements on the property we wanted and Blair found us a lovely home that met all of them. This was our first time purchasing a home so we were a bit naive about the process and how to proceed. Blair was on top of everything throughout the process; she was pretty much available 24 hrs/7 days, even on a holiday (though she says she would like to create a couple of evening hours that are reliably work-free for her family, which she and they certainly deserve) to make sure we got OUR offer accepted on a sweet house in a competitive market. She arranged and attended all the inspections so we didn’t have to miss much work, kept us up-to-speed on every part of the process (including bank-related issues that weren’t even her responsibility) and went to bat for us when we wanted the sellers to repair multiple issues and when some of the HVAC reports seemed questionable. From the start of the process to weeks after the purchase, she was in touch with us to ensure we were happy and that all i’s were dotted and t’s were crossed. It was a total pleasure working with Blair and I will certainly recommend her to friends and colleagues in the future.

- Stephanie

The whole process of buying a home has been so low-stress, working with Blair. Impressed with her social work background and disarming, kind and competent demeanor, she was just our style. Proactive and knowledgeable, Blair alerted us to aspects of each house; the importance of chimney height, what certain cracks suggested about the foundation, how traffic might impact noise and ease of resale. She quickly picked up on exactly what our needs and tastes were, and guided us to just the right house! When it came down to negotiations, Blair researched comps in the area, and guided us to come up with a workable deal, to everyone’s satisfaction. She has great connections in the community and referred us to excellent folks for inspection and repairs. As gentle and friendly as she is, Blair gets the job done-a mattress was still on the street after sellers had left the home. Blair’s right-on emails to all the right people solved that problem right away!! Get Blair on your team. She’s the one!

- Paula and Becca

Blair has helped me to buy two different houses in Carrboro and was fantastic to work with on both occasions. I had lackluster experiences with two different local agents before her so was feeling pretty jaded when we started working together. Blair was a breath of fresh air – she actually listens to what your home needs are and makes thoughtful and appropriate recommendations based on those. She is also honest and straight forward and lets you know when you are being unrealistic vs. when the seller is. And to boot, Blair is energetic, friendly, and responsive!